Okinawa Fioretti

"Your seminar on Okinawa this weekend was wonderful. I have a greater sense of my vocation and I have a renewed spirit that with God's grace I can fulfill his will. Merci," Jerome

"Something else that stood out to me was the role of the women. I never saw it as being such a blessing to be a woman. When seeing it as you have put it, it makes me see that indeed we play such a big role. Being a military spouse it’s sometimes hard to see how important you really are. Being the spouse and a at home mom of an active duty member everything revolves around HIM being able to do all things. Even things that have to be done for the children have to be done by him. Sometimes the military can make you feel insignificant. After doing this for 7 years I'm glad that we did this retreat. Listening to the role of both parts helped my husband as well, it helped him to see that he is suppose to protect me all the time. I know that I'm a big girl and with my past I don’t let anyone get away with anything not done to me or my family. So for a while there he never stood up for me LOL! He thought, "she can handle herself. But it does feel good to have him do it for a change. Anyway to make this story short we enjoyed every part of our time with you guys, seeing you interact with each other and speak to each other was great. Once again thank you for all you do, thank you for saying yes to Gods work you are amazing and real. Thanks "
Monica

"Apart from your lovely French accents, we loved the way you explained the Sacrament of Marriage to us. It was very enlightening. We thought we knew what it meant, but you helped us to dig deeper into its meaning. We have also implemented many of your suggestions on how to incorporate Christ more into our lives. We do our daily prayers and meditation as a couple and as a family. Our sons are doing so much better vocalizing their prayers and we have our prayer jars! It really helped to hear someone reinforce the fact that without Christ, we can do nothing! So, thank you for being so open with us and sharing the most personal aspects of your lives. Please keep us in your prayers."

About the author

I was born and raised in Burgundy, France. Good wine and good food reign, but the the region is also deeply rooted in Christianity. The number of beautiful roman churches and chapels is amazing. I am number four of five kids: three girls and two boys. I was raised in a practicing Catholic family. I married Christian in 1977 in Burgundy in an 11th century church. We have five beautiful daughters. Two of them still live in France and three are in the US with us. Our two eldest daughters are married, one in Denver, one in France, and each have five children so far. Our third daughter is currently expecting her first baby. After fifteen years in the Catholic Community of the Beatitudes, we dedicated ourselves to the ministry towards the engaged. We have been the Directors of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of Colorado Springs since 2005. We became American citizens in 2010 and now have dual citizenship: French and American. I love to take pictures and to scrapbook, I love drawing and crafts (salt-dough is my best!), hiking and gardening. I am the computer geek for our organization.

I always giggle a little when a couple misunderstands the question on immorality in the online marriage prep course. It’s an understandable misinterpretation: the difference between immorality and i...